The Stickybomb Launcher is the default secondary weapon for the Demoman. It is a modified grenade launcher with a large drum magazine, an under-barrel foregrip, and a wide barrel. A charging handle used for reloading sits on the back left side, above the trigger.

This weapon launches small, glowing, spiked bombs that adhere to almost any surface, but bounce off enemy players, buildings, and certain map entities such as spawn gates or Payload carts. Stickybombs do not explode on contact, but instead can be detonated manually with secondary fire approximately 0.7 seconds after being deployed. The bombs disappear harmlessly with a white flash, should the Demoman who placed them die, or if they are hit by bullets, syringes, melee attacks, or explosions caused by the Scottish Resistance and Quickiebomb Launcher. Up to eight Stickybombs can be placed at one time; the oldest Stickybomb detonates when the player tries to deploy a ninth bomb. The total number of bombs in place on the map is shown on the HUD.

Should a Stickybomb be hit with a compression blast, or an explosion from any enemy weapon except the Scottish Resistance and the Quickiebomb Launcher, it is pushed away, but does not detonate. The Stickybombs are otherwise unharmed by the force of the blast. Stickybomb explosions deal splash damage: there is a blast radius falloff that causes less damage to be done the greater the distance a target is from the center of an explosion, even for critical hits. Note that stickybomb explosions can be used to juggle targets for more damage.

The Demoman can also use Stickybombs to propel himself into the air. Unlike the Soldier, however, the self-damage incurred by such a tactic is much higher; sometimes as much as half of the Demoman's total health.

Stickybombs are fired from the launcher at 805 Hammer units per second, which is around 34 miles per hour. By holding down primary fire, the launcher can be charged up to launch a stickybomb over greater distances. A meter below the ammo count will show how much force is behind the stickybomb, and the launcher will begin to tremble when it is reaching its maximum strength. If the charge bar fills completely, the sticky will be fired automatically. A fully charged stickybomb travels at a speed equivalent to approximately 230% of that of an uncharged one. It should be noted that stickybombs are not 100% accurate in where they land.

Unused content

Unused Pipebomb model.

Based on its name displayed on the stats page, the Stickybomb Launcher was originally supposed to be the Pipebomb Launcher, a weapon from the first Team Fortress. It is thought to have been similar to the Grenade Launcher except that the grenades would only detonate when the player pressed the alt fire key (as seen in Trailer 2). The Pipebomb Launcher's grenade is still in the game files.

Bugs

When changing the styles on the festive variant, the preview does not show the light bulbs.

Trivia

The Stickybomb Launcher bears resemblance to a weapon cut from Half-Life 2, simply named the "Sticky Launcher". Had it been included, it would have functioned in an almost identical manner, except that it would stick to enemies as well as map surfaces.